“Cursed Child” Script on British Book Award Short List

It’s been a busy week for publishing in the UK, with the London Book Fair running over three day, and what seemed like the whole of the publishing industry converging on Olympia, London. Among the chaos, the short list for the British Book Awards, also known as the Nibbies, was announced.

The Nibbies brings together books of the year with trade accolades such as publisher of the year and book retailer of the year. There are six individual books of the year awards: children’s; debut fiction; fiction; non fiction – lifestyle; non-fiction – narrative[;] and crime & thriller. An overall book of the year is then chosen from the individual winners.

The idea behind the books of the year is to celebrate the whole journey from the author’s mind to the reader’s hand and showcase the range and depth of modern publishing. It’s about the story itself, [as well as] the way that the publishing contributes both to the story telling and to finding an audience.

As we’re sure you’re aware, 2016 contained many important moments for the Harry Potter fandom, including the release of the Cursed Child script, the Fantastic Beasts script, and the second illustrated Harry Potter from Jim Kay – there was plenty to get our teeth into! So we’re not surprised to see some familiar names on the short list.

First up, Pottermore is short-listed for its Harry Potter and the Cursed Child script release campaign in the Marketing Strategy of the Year category, which took place last summer. The Cursed Child script is also nominated for Children’s Book of the Year.

Bloomsbury Children’s Books, who is responsible for the Harry Potter books in the UK, including the Jim Kay illustrated editions and the Hogwarts Library, are on the short list for Children’s Publisher of the Year.

Little, Brown, which publishes J.K. Rowling’s adult fiction, including The Casual Vacancy, her work as Robert Galbraith, as well as the Cursed Child and Fantastic Beasts scripts, is short-listed for Publisher of the Year.

The results will be announced on May 8 at Grosvenor House, London. You can see the full short lists and find out more about the awards here.

Congratulations to all short-listed!